An interview with Michiko Wakita who pioneered early journeys of the Japanese tourists to Bhutan and has been a regular visitor to Bhutan since the 1970s. The Druk Journal: Why did you first decide to organise tours to Bhutan ? Michiko Wakita: Bhutan was well-known among the fervent but...

China remains the world’s biggest market in outbound tourism, with nearly 150 million (M) Chinese travelling abroad in 2018, up 14.7 percent year-on-year, according to a recent report by the China Tourism Academy and Ctrip. In 2012, China became the world’s top spender in international tourism and continues to...

Tourism, a multi-faceted industry cutting across various productive sectors of the economy, plays a significant role in the growth of developing and developed nations. It mobilises resources, generates employment, and drives regional development. Being a capital-light and labour-intensive industry, tourism is also an effective tool to address issues related...

Once upon a time, not so long ago, one of the pleasures of going to Shimla was the picturesque three-hour drive from Kalka in the plains of north India, up to the Deodar-scented hills and bracing air of Himachal Pradesh. Last year, making that same journey, I found it...

Since opening its doors to the outside world in 1951, Nepal tourism has weathered the onslaughts of political upheavals, regime change, national insurgency, earthquakes and floods, as well as external forces such as wars, blockades, terrorism, and plagues that have affected global travel patterns. In 2018, foreign arrivals to...

Nepal opened up to the world in 1950 and has a history of nearly 70 years of tourism that has been filled with multiple layers of challenges and growth. Therefore, it will be interesting to understand Bhutan’s tourism development and growth compared with Nepal. Bhutan Tourism As We...

Kuensel 10/7/1984 Twenty-one snow-shrouded peaks in Bhutan, all over 7,000 metres, which have for centuries afforded the country an impassable natural protection and been the essence of its “Shangrila” image could now be almost worth their weight in gold, with mountaineering fast developing as the main activity of Bhutan’s...

An old Asian saying aptly warns: “Tourism is like fire; you can either use it to cook your food or burn your house down.” This is relevant in the tourism– environment discourse because they are intricately interlinked. Many studies warn us about the negative impact of tourism on the...

Retired teacher and businesswoman, Kencho, planned to build a huge resi-dential complex in Babesa, along the expressway. With a shopping complex on the ground floor, she would never have problems finding tenants. Then the idea changed. Three factors convinced her. There is a cap on construction loans, and interest...

Transport is integral to the tourism industry. If tourism has grown, it is largely because of improved transportation. This holds true for Bhutan, yet access can make or break a destination. Today, as thousands of vehicles enter the country with the sudden growth in regional tourism, questions are being...